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TT^^KOOF AND SIDE-WALL 

PAINTING^! 

WITH FULL INSTRUCTIONS. 

ALSO, 

HOW. TO MAKE LANGIIOKNE'S ENGLISH GUM-COAT- 
ING AND OTHER MINERAL PAINTS AND 
CEMENTS. 

r,v ' 

■/' 

Maurice Langhorne, of Maysville, Ky., 

Zate Ti'esident Hoof- 'Painters' Cotnjjauv. 



This Paint Is used by the United States Government. 



.^ 



WASHINGTON D. C. : i 

Thomas McGill & Co., Printers. ^ <^ ' 



PREFACE. 



My experience with houses has been, tliat the owners 
are compelled yearly to bear heavy expenses for repairs, 
which in some instances eat up almost the entire pro- 
fits. Particularly is this the case in the matter of roof 
painting, and side -wall painting to prevent dampness. 

My object is to show house-owners how to save from 
one-half to two-thirds of this expense. 






TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE. 

What workmen to avoid. .# 3 

How to measure roof 4 

Side-wall painting 6 

How to make Englisli gnm coaling paint and cem- 
ent 7 

How to make mineral paint... 7 

Various minerals used 7 

Tricks of roof painters = 8 

Wliat causes leaks 9 

How to find leaks 9 

How to stop tliem........ 11 

Observations 12 



ROOF PAINTING. 



Avoid lig-htning-rod men, or men who take up the 
business of roof painting in connection with some other 
callino-, and particularly avoid all traveling- roof painters. 

The reasons for this are apparent to an expert. For 
after your roof is painted you will find that there is some- 
thing the matter with your llgiitning rod which you did 
not know of before, and which you now have to have 
repaired. If you are so fortunate as to get a good job of 
roof painting, and no damage to any other part of your 
premises, your neighbor may soon find his roof leaking, 
or his lightning rod needing repairs. Especially is this 
the case if his roof adjoins yours, and vice versa if he em- 
ploys them and your roof adjoins his. 

If you do not know an}- poor man who is a journeyman 
painter, put an advertisement in some of the papers, cost- 
ing fifty cents, that you want a house painter out of em- 
ployment to paint your roof or side-wall, and you will be 
enabled to increase your acquaintance with this class of 
workmen. 

Kow, buy the materials stated on page 7 of this book, 
and avoid all highljMidvertised or high-priced articles. 

The largest experience has shown, that, for the paint- 
ing of metallic surfaces, or bricks, stone, and outside 
wood work, nothing has ever proved more efiicacious 
than the two compounds of linseed oil, varnish, and me- 
tallic hereinafter set forth. 

Men with an extraordinary development of chin mus- 
cles, or on the lookout for a job, may talk you to death. 



4 ROOF PAINTING. 

or show you a thousand references as to the merits of their 
particular paints ; but if your judo'nient does not convince 
you tliat tliese two compounds are the best, refer the mat- 
ter to some painter of intelhgence that jou know is disin- 
terested, and lie will tell you that experience justifies my 
statement. 

To get the exact measure of your roof, measure (if house 
is by itself) from the lower edge of the barge board (the 
strip of board running along the side of the house from 
the roof) to the lower edge of the barge board on the other 
side ; then from the upper edge of the cornice in front to 
the end of the tin in the gutter. This is the proper length 
and breadth of the roof. 

For tlie joints, each of whicli is an inch high, and both 
sides of them have to be painted, and for the gutter inside 
and out, and the outside of the down spout, allow one- 
tenth of the whole roof measure. Thus : 

Length 33 feet 

Width 20 " 

This makes o,»....660 sq. ft. 

One-tenth for gutter, joints, and spout 66 " " 

]!»^umber of square feet in roof 726 

At two cents per square foot, the price charged by 

some to paint this roof, it would cost $14.52 

At one and a half cents, would cost 10.89 

At one cent, would cost 7.26 

While the cost is about as follows : 

One gallon best raw linseed oil 70 

Six pounds of mineral @, 3 cents 18 

Other ingredients 25 

One flat brush (6 inch) 1.00 

Labor of one man one day 1.25 

Total $3.38 



ROOF PAINTING. 

This is allowing for best materials, bought at retail 
prices ; and you can readily see why the roof painters can 
aftbrd to take one's note loithout interest, and wait three, 
six, and nine months for their pay. 

So that if you have only two houses of your ow^n, or one 
large house, you can well afford to pay the price of this 
book, and make the saving on a single job of roof paint- 
ing, and be ever afterv/ards freed from a set of incessant 
talkers who amount to little less than swindlers. 

For a better illustration : 

Take a roof njeasuring thirty squares, or three thou- 
sand square feet ; at two cents a foot, this will 

cost $80.00 

At oneanda half cents = 45.00 

At one cent 30.00 

Get a seven or eight gallon can, costing (with 

mouth three inches wide) $1.25 

One flat six-inch brush 1.00 

Four gallons best raw linseed oil, at average 

price of 70 cents 2.80 

Twenty-four pounds mineral @ 3 cents per 

pound 72 

One half gallon copal varnish 1.00 

Labor of one man two days at $1.25 2.50 

Total $9.27 

These materials when mixed will make about six gallons 
of paint, amply sufficient for a roof of that size. And you 
have your can and brush left. 

The brush, if kept in a bucket of water, will answer for 
a dozen jobs. Tiie ordinary wooden bucket usually about 
a house, costing twenty-five cents each, will answer to 
pour the paint into for use; and if you have to buy a 
seven or eight gallon tin can to hold and mix it in, you 
will have the can, bucket, and brush for subsequent use. 



6 EOOF PAINTING. 

though generally old thhigs of some kind can be found 
ahout every house to answer for these purposes without 
bujing. 

If your house is small, get your neighbor to join you in 
painting; and recollect, that a roof which lealvS does not 
always 7ieed painting; and that when you paint, and there 
is any left, it is equally good for walls, fences, brick, stone, 
or wood. 

In relation to side -wall j)ainting to prevent damp- 
ness. 

Tliere are two ways of mixing tiie paint — one as above, 
which would require three or four coats, or by putting 
eight poimds of mineral to the gallon of oil, and only 
using two coats of paint. 

Either waj'', after the first coat is put on go over the 
wall and cement all the cracks in the mortar and bricks 
which let the water in. This cement is made by taking, 
if the wall will measure seven or eight liundred square 
feet, a half gallon of the paint and stirring well into it 
enough of the dry mineral to thicken it up to the consist- 
ency of soft dough or soft putty. 

For the purpose of applying it to the crevices in tlie 
wall, some use their fingers, some a trowel, others a knife. 
The first is the best. Be sure that all the crevices are well 
filled; and when putting the second coat on, the brush 
and paint going over the cement will smooth it down and 
help to fill other crevices. 

The first coat should always be applied freely, and, in 
the case of tliin paint being used, ample time should be 
allowed for the third and fourth coats to ({vj. 

This cement is also used to stop leaks in metal roofing, 
and for an ordinar.y-sized roof only about a pint of tiie 
paint should be thickened up as above described. 



ROOF PAINTING. 7 

How to make English Gum Coating Paint and Cement^ 
believed to he the best. 

Take a seven or eight gallon tin can. with mouth at 
least three inches in diameter; put into it four gallons of 
best raw linseed oil ; put the can on a stove, and as soon 
as the oil begins to get warm, say lukewarm, stir into it 
one half gallon of good copal varnish, a pint of varnish to 
the gallon of oil ; now stir in well the dry mineral, twenty 
or twentj^-four pon.nds ; that is, at the rate of five or six 
pounds to the gallon of oil. 

(If the paint is for a wall, where you desire to make two 
coats answer, you should put in at least eight pounds of 
dry mineral to the gallon of oil.) 

This should be so well stirred that there will be no 
lumps left in it, and before reaching the boiling point 
take it off the fire. After taking off, the stirring may be 
continued. You cannot mix it too well. 

How to make Mineral Paint. 

You need no fire or varnish ; and mix the oil and min- 
erals in the proportions before given. 

As to the minerals to be used, there is scarcely any 
choice to be made on tlie ground of one lasting longer 
than another, if made and applied with the same care. 
And I give the names of a number : 
French ochre, dry. Cleveland iron paint, dry. 

Prince's metallic, dry. Richmond iron paint, dry. 

Pittsburgh iron paint, dry. Spanish brown, dry. 
Yellow ochre, dry. And numerous others. 

These minerals can be bought, at wholesale prices, 
from three-quarters of a cent to two cents a pound, and 
ought to retail in small quantities at three cents, or less. 

It ought to be noted here, that in warm climates— say 



8 ROOF PAINTING. 

south of Pliiladelphia — yellow or French ochre ought to 
be more generally used, for two reasons, viz.: 

1st. Because it does not attract the same degree of heat 
that the red and dark colors do, and in warm weather the 
upper rooms of a house are cooler. 

2d. Because the hotter the tin or metal becomes the 
more broken joints and greater wear and tear upon the 
roof, which is saved by using tiiis light color. 

My reasons for suggesting the emplojniient of journey- 
men house painters, of buying the materials and having 
them mixed on your own premises, are, that by these 
means you not only effect the saving, but you also know 
that the best materials have been j)ut on your roof, wall, 
or fencing, which is not always the case when a painter 
who has a shop is employed ; for he always has refuse or 
waste material in the potash barrel, wliich he uses at the 
rate of one gallon of i)otash-barrel refuse to two gallons 
of oil, or two gallons of the former to one of the latter. 
This practice is a fraud upon the house owner, but is de- 
fended on the ground that he expects to paint his roof 
every fifteen or eighteen months any way, and this will, 
or ought to, they say, last that long. And, besides, house 
owners hardly ever go up on a roof to see if it has been 
painted; and if they did, they could not tell whether 
good material had been used. 

I have heard of a number of instances where roof 
painters, knowing the dislike of parties to go up on their 
roofs and inspect the work, have simply painted the 
barge on side-board of the roof, wiiich could be seen from 
the ground ; and, again, where a most successful roof 
painter, who got the most work and the best prices for it, 
used rain water altogether in place of oil. He made up 
for the want of oil by having the largest and best list of 



KOOF PAINTING. 9 

references and certificates, the most cheek, the most talk, 
and the most cringln<^ politeness. 

A traveling roof painter had the impudence to tell me 
to my face that I didn't know how to make monej' at roof 
painting. ""Why," says he, "mj^ paint costs about thirty 
cents a gallon, while yours costs nearly a dollar. A gal- 
lon of mine will paint six hundred square feet, for wliich 
I get better prices than you do. It is such a glossy, 
shinj'- black, that if I can get a man np on his roof to look 
at it in a week after the work is done, he is so well 
pleased that he wil4 pay my bill or discount his note at 
once." 

How did the work look in two months? I inquired. 
"Oh," said he, "we make it a rule never to stay in one 
place more than six weeks, close up our business, get all 
the money we can, trade our notes for merchandise, and 
slide on to some other locality." 

Leaks result from holes rusted in the tin or other met- 
al, from abrasion such as the falling of stones and bricks 
upon the roof, and principally from the want of care of 
the tinner in putting tlie roof on. These latter are badly- 
formed joints and seams, and are the hardest leaks to 
find, and the hardest to stop when found. 

Here let me say, that it is better to have a poor quality 
of tin put on well, than to have the best put on careless- 
ly. There is no reason why a roof made of the best tin, 
painted on both sides, laid on felt, with joints an inch 
high and with two turns properly pressed together, should 
not last a hundred years without leaking, — barring the 
leaks from accidental abrasion. 

How to Find the Leaks. 

Take a tape-line and go to the room where the leak 
shows. (See diagram 1.) ISTote if the room is a front or 



10 



ROOF PAINTING. 



back one. Place a piece of paper on the floor, exactly 
under the wet place in the ceiling- "A." Kow iio to 
"B," a point just in front of the nearest corner of the 
cliinniey, to "A," and on a line with "A" (that is, the 
same distance from the side-wall as '"A") measure dis- 
tance from corner of chimney to "B," (say seven feet,) 
also the distance from "B" to "A" (say six feet). 
Better always make a little diagram on a piece of paper. 

Now go on the roof (see diagram 2) and measure from 
the same corner of the same chimney seven feet directly 
in front and chalk the spot "B." Measure six feet in 
direction of leak "A," and mark it. 

Here, generally, within a foot of this mark, if you have 
been correct in your measurement, you will find upon 
close inspection the hole which lets the water in. 



Diagram 1 



Diagram 2. 





7FT i 


A 


GFT. 



VI 



If you cannot find any break in the tin, follow the dot- 
ted line " A " "• B " to the u.pper edge of the roof, watch- 
ing carefully. If you can still find no break in the tin, 
notice if tliere is a joint close to the mark "A," and 



KOOF PAINTING. 11 

whether the joint is properly made with two turns and 
pressed together. If joint is properly made, and not open 
so as to admit water, follow this -joint up to the edo-e of 
the roof, watching carefully. 

In one of these ways you will generally, in a few min- 
utes, discover the faulty place. 

If you find a hole in the tin, paint it and apply the 
cement, leaving a bulk of cement about a quarter of an 
inch high riglit over the hole or break, and smooth down 
the cement with more paint. 

If no hole or break is found, and the leak is from badly- 
formed joints, you first paint the joint or joints on both 
sides, and cement them on the side where the roll is, from 
the edge of the roll down to the roof, (generally a space 
about half an inch,) and extend this, if necessary, up to 
tlie npper edge of the roof, on the joints nearest the mark 
"A." 

I recollect that there was a leak reported in a roof we 
had painted, and, in spite of several close examinations 
by myself and one of the best w^orkmen we had, we were 
unable to find it. The joints were all properly made, and 
there was no break in the tin ; of this I Was certain. I 
noticed that when that roof was reported leaking, it was 
when tlie wind was blowing from a certain direction, and 
one day, when quite a rainstorm was raging and the wind 
blowing from that quarter, I went on the roof and stood 
there in the rain to watch it. To my surprise, I found that 
the wind banked the water up over all the joints in the 
neighborhood of the leak, and it actually went over tlie 
flashing, — the upright piece of tin, four inches high, which 
joins the roof to a higher wall and is inserted into this 
wall. 

After the rain, I examined the roof, and found that 



12 BOOF PAINTING. 

where the flasliing niii into the wall of the next house, 
which was higher than the roof painted, it had not been 
properly held in its places by plaster or cement, and when 
the water forced by the wind had readied this height, it 
had followed the tin on the under side and made the 
leak. 

This being attended to, tliere was no further leaking at 
that point. 

For all outside work, use raw oil. It takes longer to 
dry, but lasts longer. 

It may here be observed, that if you employ a journey- 
man house painter to paint the inside work of your house, 
and buy the materials and have them mixed on your own 
premises, you will find a remarkable saving; and if the 
painter you employ is honest, you will have the work bet- 
ter done. 

M. LANGHORNE, 

Late President of (he Roof Painters'' Oo., District of Columbia. 



iJSl- 1.9. Pi 



AN-AS-TAR-TA; 

OR, 

A TRft' TO OuLD Nick's Land 



This Book is equal to Gulliver's Travels and Bunyan's 

Pilgrim's Progress. It is more interesting 

than either. 



It ifi Bi^toridkl, Politic^al, 

Sllegoridkl, ki]d ]vletapl]oi4dkl. 



Live Agents Wanted 

ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. 



Price, $1 per copy. To Agents, Ten copies will be sent, 

charges paid, on receipt of $5. by Post Office 

Order, by Express, or by Registered Letter. 



Address, IVI. LANGHORNE, 708 E Street, 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 

GENERAL AGENT. 









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